Seamus O'Connor Appointed New Fever Head Coach

Atlantic Soccer Factory (ASF) is proud to announce Seamus O'Connor was appointed Head Coach of the Philadelphia Fever. He was a member of the 2012 Fever front office and Fever Owner; Matt Driver is excited for O'Connor to take on a more "hands-on" role with the team.

"I'm looking forward to Seamus taking over coaching responsibilities for the Fever," said Driver. "He has been with me for 14 years and is, in my opinion, one of the most talented coaches in the country."

O'Connor is currently an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for Temple University's Women's Soccer program. He will continue his role at Temple while coaching the Fever.

"I'm looking forward to coaching in the WPSL again; this will be my fourth time in the league," said O'Connor. "I'm committed to ASF's player development model. ASF and its affiliated teams have always been about player development and I'm looking to implement that with the Fever."

O'Connor previously coached the AC Diablos, Philadelphia Liberty, and CDSA Future in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL).

"For the High School players, it will be all about getting used to the speed of play required in the collegiate and professional game," explained O'Connor. "For Collegiate players, the Fever will be a great way to stay in game shape and a good compliment to the fitness program required of them by their college coaches during the summer months.  For the players who are out of college, the team will give them the chance to showcase their abilities with the goal of securing a professional contract."

O'Connor's most recent tenure, prior to Temple, was with Chestnut Hill College of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). He was named the Head Coach for the Men's Soccer program in 2007 before coaching both the men and women's teams in 2008 and 2009.

O'Connor's coaching abilities warranted a promotion and he was appointed Director of Soccer for Chestnut Hill before choosing to exclusively coach the women's team in 2010. He earned CACC Coach of the Year honors at the end of the 2010 season.  

O'Connor also has experience in the professional ranks. In 2010, he served as Director of Operations for the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). The now-defunct WPS was the highest level of Women's soccer in America and included US National Team stars like Alex Morgan, Lauren Cheney, and Abby Wambach.

"It's great seeing players I met through ASF camps, summer select programs or clinics stay in the ASF player development model and grow up to be phenomenal players." explained O'Connor , "even if it does make me feel old to now coach players in the WPSL that I first coached as U12 players in our ASF programs!"

O'Connor is an Irish native and graduated from the Athlone 

Institute of Technology (Ireland) in 1997. He was the starting goalkeeper for three seasons at Athlone while training with League of Ireland clubs Athlone Town and Longford Town.  

His soccer licenses include Coaching and Goalkeeper Licenses from the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) as well as a National and level-2 Goalkeeping License from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He currently resides in Blackwood, NJ with his wife and two children, Shay and Annabridget.